I think I did pretty well this time around, with much less mistakes (at least major ones).

Round 1

Aaron -> Bann -> Fadzuli -> Me -> Kristine

It was unfortunate that Kristine's main deck combo did not work the way she expected it to (old card vs new text) and she was ousted fairly quickly by me. I think I had Mary Anne Blaire, Victor Donaldson, Mustafa the Heir and Graham Gottesman out by that point. Since I had the majority votes, Aaron and Fadzuli could not do much, so I just kept bleeding into Aaron and bouncing bleeds over. Unfortunately, I could not oust Bann before time ran out.

1GW + 2.5VP

Round 2

Me -> Hidetoshi-san -> Nomura-san -> Jared -> John Worrall

I got off to a shaky start for this game (note to self: take out Juniper from the deck. She has a cute ability, but the lack of votes hurts like crazy), drawing only 3 titled vampires and getting Victor Pelletier when I went fishing for more (another note to self: take out Victor P from the deck. He is the only vampire I cannot get for free with Govern) and starting off with no bounce and no wakes. Fortunately, John was not able to oust me before I finally drew into some bounces.

The game lasted for an hour and a half with no one being ousted. I was unable to bleed Hidetoshi-san for big amounts (dude packs way too many bounces) and he managed to stealth past Nomura-san's defenses before I could oust him. Then John lost all his minions to combat from both sides and he was ousted by Jared. I managed to convince Jared to send all of Hidetoshi-san's minions into torpor, but time ran out and I had to settle for 0.5VP.

Stephen commented that the amount of combat on my table was ridiculous and hoped he didn't have to sit down with us at any point during the event. Guess he reckoned without Murphy's Law.

Then came the longest pitch for a deal I have ever had to do in V:tES. For a good half an hour, Stephen and I spent our time between turns trying to convince Lucinio to do the right thing. Of course, for Stephen, this meant for him to help remove Pentex Subversion as it would mean a weaker predator for him once I go into full defense mode. I, however, was convinced that if Stephen and he were to go one-on-one, Lucinio would not be able to handle Saulot and he should leave the Pentex alone while Fadzuli weakens Stephen.

When I talked to Lucinio after the game, he told me that when we first started pitching, my plan did sound better. I guess when he finally decided to burn the Pentex, it was too late for him. I bled him down to one pool and agreed to help Fadzuli oust Stephen if he would oust Lucinio with his KRC.

In the end, I could not out vote Fadzuli's minions and a Powerbase: Madrid and was ousted immediately after Stephen.

1GW + 4VP

Final Table

I managed to edge past Fadzuli and Fay in tournament points to get into the final table.

Unfortunately, it is now the wee hours of the morning and I don't think I can coherently talk about one of the most exciting finals I have ever played in, so I will continue in the next post.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Since the beginning of this year, the enthusiasm to gather and play have slowly wound down to a point where Stephen commented that he never got a game in before ACC Japan 2012.
Trying to pick interest back up, we got together for a game late November 2012 and from there decided to try for a monthly play session.

So it was on the night of 10 December 2012, we met up at Gamersaurus Rex once again. Five Methuselahs shook off the inertia of torpor to once again continue the eternal struggle.

Fay brought out Uncle George, Dolphin Black and Korah, and had a Good Thing(tm) going on for a while with Kindred Spirits, Eyes of Chaos, assorted stealthiness and Sleep Unseen. She managed to oust Bann and Wei Yuan before going heads up with Keith.

I took over for a while when she had to take a call.

Anu's shenanigans with Archon Investigation meant that I was stuck bleeding for only 2 per minion at some point. Ultimately, Keith overran the crazies with the *Power of Dominate*(tm).

I tweaked the Snakes after being ousted in game 1, removing all unnecessary actions, some overkill of stealth and a stack of Master cards. I was hopeful that this would be a better game.

Until I knew I was seating to the left of a Kiasyd S&B. Nucking Futs.

I felt a glimmer of hope when I saw 4 Deflections in my opening hand. Things went quite well until Wei Yuan decided to play Game of Malkav. I contemplated taking 3 pool with a fairly realistic chance of gaining that 3 pool, but was worried that I will not be able to oust Wei Yuan if he gained 6 pool. When the count was totaled, Wei Yuan lost 6 pool, I lost 5, Fay lost 4, Keith gained 1 (wuss) and Bann gained 3.

I thought with Wei Yuan at 8 pool and with 2 Deflection in hand, I could easily oust him. Except Fay decided to play conservatively. I managed to bounce a bleed of 3 (reduced by Wrong and Crosswise) and another bleed of 2, but was unable to generate the 5 bleed to oust my prey.
Fay easily bled Wei Yuan and I out, and because Bann ran out of Deep Songs right at that moment, Fay cleaned up all the vps.

Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Itabashi is fairly close and easily accessible to many popular places in Tokyo. Transport via the rail or subway systems is a breeze (just remember to write down the station names in advance in case you need to ask for help). This means that you can stay outside of Itabashi, enjoy all the sights Tokyo has to offer and still easily make your way to the ACC! How cool is that?

Itabashi (板橋)

Itabashi is right where the ACC 2012 will be held and if you are the active type, you can walk/jog/cycle to the Greenhall right from your hotel (some hotels even provide free use of their bicycles).

There are not many hotels in Itabashi, but they are all highly affordable and offer rooms that are bigger than similarly classed rooms in the busier parts of Tokyo.

Shibuya (渋谷)

Shibuya stands as a major entertainment and commercial centre in modern Japan. A direct train from Shibuya, Ebisu or Ikebukkuro rail stations will bring you directly to Itabashi.

Hotels in Shibuya range from the fancy Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel to the Granbell Hotel to various inns and youth hostels.

Shinjuku (新宿)
Shinjuku is home to many shopping malls and multi-storey departmental stores as well as a vibrant night life and is a major transport hub in Tokyo.

Just like in Shibuya, hotels in Shinjuku range from the classy Park Hyatt Tokyo to nice but affordable hotels like the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku to various capsule hotels.

Thursday, 3 May 2012

The latest State of the V:EKN is now available on V:KEN.net. Here's a quote from the Chairman himself, somewhere near the bottom of the article:

As I mentioned in the Cause & Effect interview, there's about a 20% chance of the game coming back into print. We've had dialog with various companies with respect to this. At this time, there is nothing tangible to report. However, dialog with those companies continues, and we'll be sure to let you know if there are any developments.